Heater construction



Dec. 18, 1945. 1., N. ALTE 2,391,111

HEATER CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 25, 1944 2 Sheets Sheet 1 v mw 1N ENTOR.

ATTORNEY. Y

1945 L. N. WALTER HEATER CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 25, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet2 VENT OR. 4 77/ BY m ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 18, 1945 STATE-ES PAT opera I 2,391,111

HEA EEC N TRUGTION Le .N-' alter, Oak Glenn, Ill.

Arr i atien. ehrueryza 194.4, Serial No. 523,826

Whims- This, inv ntion .relatesto an improvedheater ensimqtionand has fo-one.ofitsprincipal oh:- l iqls $11. lpl i on of means wherein cool.air.

may .be forced, into; the. central; portion of i the. m xing qhfill bfirvofuacheater and as .apressureis. built up; therein thelheated airinexpelledfrom h:Q .te '-.DQ l 0n.oisthechamben. The improved.

construction which is especially adaptedto be mm mmlei in smallzportableheaters. may. also :be,..bl i; in o la ger units.

Another. object of importance. and advantage residei. in the; provisionof. means. .for directing entering; air downwardly. through the central.portion or. the, mixing chamber to the. heating point and then upwardly.along the. outerportion (lithe. chamberand through a. point of.discharge Other objects of advantage and impcrtancewillbecomeapparent-as the following detaileddescriptionprogresses references beinghadtothe accompanying drawings wherein Figs l-isa vertical section'oi aportable heater which.embodiestheinvention.

Fig. 2 is a. topv-plan-- view thereof.-

Fig. -3 is asectional view taken on line- 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig.4 is a sectional view taken online 44 of Fig.1.. 7

Fig.5 is a-vertical sectionof a slightly modified formof-thedevice,parts thereof" being broken away.

Fig. G-is a sectional view taken on the line 6=-6 ofaFige looking in thedirection-- indicated'by the arrows;

Fig. 7 -is a detailedview of a portion of-the lower portion of thedevice shown in Fig. 5;

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally the body of the improveddevice of this invention. In the preferred'embodiment of the device the,1body Hi is cylindrical; as is clearly shown in thedrawings.Thelowerportion of the body I llii is provided with a closure j l 2 andthe :upper end of the body 60 carries anapertured member Secured to theapertured-- member Hnon the upper end of the body H3: lean electric fan16-. The fanis positioned to draw air throughthe apertured member I4.and force it downwardly into the body I0.; Secured to theinteriorsurface of the body I llintermediate the endsthereoi is an apertured member[8. The apertured member I8, which is. substantially in the form of..atruncated cone, divides the body ,lfl into an upper.

air receiving chamber 29;; and a lower mixing; chamber 22-. Air drawninto thehody l0.by..the. fan. I6 is forced downwardly. through thecharm-. ber 20 and through the truncated cone shaped member iii and intothe central portion of the mixing chamber 22; The tendency of this current of air is to continuedownwardly until turned nearthebottom ofthechamber, and thence-to travel outwardly and upwardly to the outersurface of the coneshaped member 18 and thence to atmosphere y through aport 2 4.

Positionedon the closure member 1 2 is a heat.

resistant member 26, upon which heating ele-. ments 28, 28 may bepositioned. The heating; elements 28, 28am electrically connected to. a

source of supply through. lead wires 39,- 38,. An

electric circuit in a conduit 32 also extends through a limit switch 34,a starting switch 36 and a thermostat. 38. to the electric fan I6.Manually operated switches 40 ;and 4Z are.also. provided in .the heatingand fan circuits.

In operating the improved device of this in.-

vention, thel'ead wires 30, 30 may be plugged intoa convenient outlet,not shown,, and the manu.-.

ally operated switches 49 and 42 moved to, on. position. In the eventthe temperature of the room in which the improved device is positionedis below a predetermined'minimum, the portion of the circuit passingthrough the thermostat 3,8. is closed and the heating elements areimmediately energized. As the heating elements warm up the chamber 22,the interior surfacethereof becoming warm activates the starting switch36;

which upon closing starts the fan [6, Operation of the fan forces airdownwardly through the chamber toward the heating elements 23; 28 and,

outwardly through the discharge port 24, as previously explained. In theevent the chamber 22' becomes overheated, the limit switch 34' functionsto open the circuit to the heating elements without disrupting the fancircuit. Consequently, the continued blast of air entering the chamberquickly lowers the temperature therein to av normal operating range.whereupon the limit switch again closes and re-energizes the heatingelements. As the temperature within the space being heated raises thethermostat 38 becomes satisfied and opens the circuits to both fan andheater, thus completing the cycle of operation.

A slightly modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7wherein the lower portion of the device is slightly altered toaccommodate a gas or other heating element. In this embodiment of thedevice the same reference numerals are used to indicate similar partshown in the preferred embodiment. In the modified embodiment the bodyIn is nested in a cylindrical member generally indicated by thereference numeral 50. The outer wall of the body I is spaced from theirmer wall 52 of the member 50, as is clearly shown in Fig. 5.

Positioned between the spaced walls of the,

nested members In and 50 is a plurality of baflie plates 54, 54. Thebaille plates are staggered with respect to their ends so as toalternately form passages over and under each successive plate. Thus apassageway is provided through the space between the nested bodies froman inlet port 55 to an outlet port 58. Consequently heat generatedbeneath the members I0 and B is conveyed through the passage formed bythe bafiies 54, 54 and is transferred to the lower portion of the bodyI0.

In the modified form of the invention it has been found advisable toprovide the outer surface of the member 50 with an insulated member 68,such as asbestos, or the like, and also to extend the side walls thereofto form a heating chamber 62 in the lower portion of the member.

In operation the modified form of the invention is substantially thesame as in the preferred embodiment with the exception that the limitswitch 34 and the thermostat 38 may be employed to operate a gas valveinstead of a switch.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that herein is provided anexceptionally sturdy and efficient device which may be universally used.Furthermore the structures shown herein may be modified withoutdeparting from the principles of providing a heater wherein the flow ofheated air is dependent entirely upon pressure built up through theaction of a fan opposed to a heating element.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the deviceappertains that numerous details of construction and design may bealtered and changed without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Accordingly the patent granted hereon is not to be limited tothe preferred embodiment here shown or in any other manner except as isnecessitated by the terminology of the appended claims when given therange of equivalents to which they maybe entitled.

I' claim:

1. In a heater, a cylindrical member having an open end and a closedend, a heating element positioned in said closed end, a fan positionedin said open end and adapted to force air through said cylindricalmember toward said heating element, an annular member secured to thewalls of said cylindrical member intermediate the ends thereof, theinner edges of said annular member being ing therebelow and providing acombustion chamber beneath said first cylindrical member.

2. In a heater, a body having an open end and a closed end, an aperturedpartition positioned intermediate the ends of said body to provide amixing chamber, means for directing a fiow of air through said aperturedpartition into said mixing chamber, means for heating the air enteringsaid tion of said mixing chamber and thence upwardly adjacent the outerwalls of said body, means for discharging the upwardly flowing air fromsaid body at a point near the upper part of said mixing chamber, andmeans for heating said air as it is circulated within said mixingchamber, said means for heating being disposed on the exterior of saidbody,

l. In a heater, a body having an open end and a closed end, a heatingelement in which said closed end is nested and providing means forheating said closed end, a fan in said open end disposed to force airinto said body and toward said heated end, means dividing the interiorof said body into upper and lower chambers, said means comprising a,member in the form of an inverted truncated cone and being positioned todirect air from said fan and upper chamber into the central portion ofsaid lower chamber, and means for exhausting air from said lower chamberat a point above its entry into said lower chamber.

5. In a heater, a hollow body having an open end and a closed end, amember into which said body is positioned providing means for heatingsaid closed end, means for forcing air through said open end and towardsaid closed end, a substantially funnel shaped member positionedintermediate said ends and adapted to direct incoming air toward thecenter or said closed end,

and port means above the discharge end of. said staggered relation,closure members positioned on the ends of said alternately staggeredfins, an

insulating member encasing said fins and the.

lower end of said body, said insulating member and said fins combiningto form a fiue encasing the lower portion or said body, an electrician,

positioned adjacent the upper end of said body, an apertured partitionpositioned in saidbody intermediate the ends thereof, and an outlet portformed'in said body at a point beneath said partition.

"I. In a heater, a hollow body having anopen upper end and a lowerclosed end, a discharge port intermediate said ends, anaperturedpartition securedwithin said body at a point above; saiddischarge port, a second hollow body telescopedover the lower portion ofsaid first named body, the walls of said bodies being spaced apart,

a plurality of fins disposed between said bodies, said fins beingalternately staggered to provide a single passage encasing the lowerportion of said first named hollow body, an inlet formed in said secondbody beneath certain of said fins, an upwardly projecting outlet on theopposite side of said body, and means for forcing a current of airdownwardly through said partition.

8. In a heater, a hollow body having a closed lower end and an openupper end, a partition substantially in the form of a truncated conedividing said body into upper and lower compartments, means for heatingsaid lower compartment, said means comprising a combustion chamberbeneath the closed end of said hollow body, a continuous line extendingfrom said chamber around the peripheral surface of the lower portion ofsaid body, means for driving a current of air downwardly through saidtruncated cone partition, and means for expelling said air from saidlower compartment.

9. In a heater, a hollow body, a closure covering one end of said body,a substantially dish-shaped apertured partition intermediate the ends ofsaid body, means for conveying a heated fluid over the outer lowersurface of said body, means for directing a current of air toward theclosed end of said body, and a discharge port in said body below saiddish-shaped partition.

10. In a heater, a body, a closure over one end of said body, the otherend of said body being open to atmosphere, an apertured partitionintermediate the ends of said body, a second body within which saidfirst named body is nested, said second body having a closure adjacentthe lower end thereof, thev vertical walls of said bodies being spacedapart, a plurality of bafiies in spaced relation engaging said walls andproviding a single continuous passage, a heat impervious materialcovering the walls of said second body, and a discharge port for saidfirst named body positioned between the upper end of said second bodyand said apertured partition.

LEO N. WALTER.

